Andi gazed upon the stadium as the sound of thousands of people roared in anticipation of the upcoming match. If possible, it seemed as the crowd had tripled in size compared to the day before. From her vantage point in the student's box – which was just above the first ring of stadium-style seating – she couldn't see a single open seat and with the increased number of people, came even more noise that battered her eardrums worse than any of Clara's screeches. The excitement in the air, not only from the crowd but her fellow students as well, was almost palpable. Nearly every student from their year had arrived, as well as a few upperclassmen who'd been eliminated from their own tournament. The only notable exceptions were the competitors and Narruk, who was still in critical condition when Andi had been released earlier that morning. "Jeez, this place is electric. Watching it on T.V. is nowhere close to seeing this in person," Kira remarked as she leaned over the railing to get a better view. Luckily, Diana appeared to have been paying enough attention to stop her from falling out of their suite.
"Please be more careful, Kira," the reptilian said. Kira reddened slightly and sheepishly sat back down, though it was clear her enthusiasm hadn't diminished.
"Sorry, it's just… how insane is this? There's gotta be a hundred thousand people here!" The girl said excitedly.
"I believe the stadium has a capacity of 107,686 not including the suites," Andi added. Behind her, Eris whistled appreciatively. The brunette was leaning back in her chair, with her feet propped up on either side of Andi's head, and a plate of hors d'oeuvres from the suite's buffet sat on her lap.
"There's more people here than in the town Alex and I grew up in."
"Speaking of Alex, he looked pretty annoyed when we ran into him last night and a little birdie told me you two were shouting at each other. Everything alright?" Kira inquired, to which Eris snorted and waved her hand.
"We're fine. Idiot has it in his head he doesn't deserve to be in the finals. Anyway, I don't wanna talk about that. Mel and cat-boy, they're childhood friends, right? Anything going on there?" The very quick change of subject did not go unnoticed but to Eris' relief, her classmates didn't call her out on it.
"Is gossip all you ever think about?" Kira asked, rolling her eyes.
"Not all I think about." At the disbelieving looks she got from her classmates, the girl growled and flipped them off before responding. "Fine then, who do you think is gonna win? Mel's tough but that guy's ranked what, third in our year? Moxie only gets you so far."
"I hate to say it but Nathan has a pretty big advantage in this one. His speed alone would be hard for Melody to go up against but throw in the fact that he's got that super move and her odds don't look very good," Andi explained, her brow furrowed in thought. Even Kira frowned, troubled by the question.
"The odds are definitely not in her favor."
Purpose of a Hero
It seemed disconcerting to Sirius how the preparation room's mood had done a complete one-eighty from the competitive, fairly jovial atmosphere the previous day, to one of tension, anticipation and, in his case, doubt. He felt like an outsider while he was waiting in the tunnel with the rest of the group and there was no denying that he was the weakest link left in the tournament. This revelation made the mood shift all the more apparent and made his anxiety skyrocket. And yet, the change, for all it affected him, seemed to be completely nonexistent to Melody. Since that morning, when she'd struck up a one-sided conversation with him as they waited in the tunnel, it seemed as if the redhead was more… eager than anything else. It was unlike anything he'd seen from her over the course of their first semester.
Once the match had been announced, her excitement only seemed to increase. She went through her pre-match stretches and checked over her equipment, which was mostly limited to the uncomfortable looking goggles that hung around her neck, with a pep in her step. He could have sworn he'd even heard her humming at one point. Finally, with half of the ten minutes of allotted preparation time gone, he spoke up. "You're taking this awfully well. Is everything alright?"
"Hm? Yeah, why?" The girl replied as she began stretching out her arms.
"I mean, you seem perfectly normal for someone about to fight in front of the entire world." To his surprise, Melody smiled.
"We did yesterday too but I get what you're saying. I'm sure if I was fighting anyone else, I'd be a nervous wreck right now. With Nathan, well… it's different. Just another one of our spars, only this time we'll be going at each other full strength. The nerves are there, just overpowered by excitement. I finally get the chance to get back at him for last time," she said, a shockingly dark look in her eyes that made Sirius shiver.
"W-What happened last time?"
"We were nine and, being stupid kids, we made a bet on one of our sparring matches. The loser had to be the winner's slave for a month. Let's just say not only did he embarrass me in front of our dads but the month following was a particularly dark part of my childhood." The teen had a haunted look on her face as she began lunging to stretch out her legs. As she went through her exercises, her mind drifted back to their last fight.
In reality, it was both a blessing and a curse that Nathan was forced into using Beast Mimicry in their last match. On one hand, she wouldn't be caught off guard by it but on the other, there was a chance he would have more control over it if he decided to use it in their fight. 'His speed is already gonna be difficult to go up against but dad's training prepared me for this. Even with the nurse's efforts, he's surely still a bit sore from Marcus' attack yesterday, which should slow him down a bunch. Granted... I'm not in that much better of a situation,' she thought grimly. Ever since she'd woken up that morning, there'd been a constant throb in the back of her head and a hollow feeling in her chest. The migraine pills Mrs. Holl had given her earlier in the semester had done little to stop the chest pains but had dulled the headache to the point that she could ignore it, which is what she fully intended to do.
Purpose of a Hero
The first thing that caught Nathan by surprise as he exited the tunnel was the field. It was much, much smaller than it had been the day before – less than a third of the size – and there seemed to be no theme to it, just a simple dirt field with white chalk lines drawn as boundaries. 'Guess they don't want the ranged fighters having too big of an advantage. No cover, though. Mid and short-ranged fighters are going to be the bread and butter of this round it seems. Tough luck for Payton. His attacks are way too spread out, so they'll be less effective on a smaller stage. Less maneuverability as well. This'll make it hard to get up to top speed,' he thought, somewhat annoyed at the prospect. The next surprise came when he saw his opponent. Standing his opposite and grinning at him. 'Looks like she noticed too. This is gonna be fun.' As their names were announced, he smirked at the girl across from him and cracked his neck.
Once the fight had officially begun, Nathan flexed his fingers, causing his claw to elongate, and dashed across the field towards Melody. As he'd expected, his first attack was easily negated by his foe shifting into her Wraith Form, but to his surprise Melody just as easily ducked beneath his followup flying kick and hopped back to put some distance between them. Meanwhile, a sudden pain in his lower back caused Nathan to stumble on his landing and grimace. He silently cursed Marcus, whose final attack the day before had left his back in tatters. He straightened up as best as he could before turning to Melody.
"Gotta say, I was hoping we'd meet up later in the tournament, Scarlette, not starting the damned thing."
"Best to get it out of the way quickly. This way I get more time to rest before my next fight." Melody knew he was stalling, Nathan was sure of it. 'She always knows. I could have a cold and she'd know it before I did.'
"Getting a bit overconfident, are we? How about a friendly wager then?" The redhead rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
"No thanks, I've already got Benji as a slave. Don't really need another one," she said. Nathan twisted his upper body from side to side a few times, making sure he still had partial mobility and crouched into his fighting stance. Across the field, Melody did the same and when his next attack came, she very easily shifted into her Wraith. Unlike last time, however, he pressed his attack, swiping through her ghostly visage, again and again, trying to outlast her. 'I can't keep this up forever. Just look for an opening and get close, remember dad's training,' Melody thought as she backpedaled, trying to put some distance between them, though he pursued her every step of the way. After a few moments of this, the redhead saw her opening. While Nathan's fighting style was generally pretty hard for people to read, due in part to his speed, experience fighting against him for so many years made even the smallest mistakes stand out.
The blond had overcommitted to one of his attacks, overextending himself and making his attack a split-second slower, which Melody took full advantage of. She leaped straight through his body – which tensed due to the chill her Wraith gave off – and phased back to normal once she was behind him. Even as he tried to turn towards her, she snaked her arms underneath his and linked her fingers together behind his neck. If it weren't for his inhuman reflexes, she would have succeeded in sweeping his legs out from under him. Even though it nearly popped his own shoulders out of their sockets, he pitched forward with all his might, lifting the much lighter Melody off her feet and sending both of them sprawling onto the dirt.
Nathan, being just quicker, rolled onto all fours and pounced at Melody, who'd only just started trying to get up. Before she had a chance to react, he grabbed one of the arms she was using to prop herself up and twisted it behind her back. The redhead grunted as her opponent used his leverage to slam her face-first into the dirt. Fortunately, she managed to activate her Quirk before he could do much else and sank into the field. Once completely submerged and able to shift back, she let out a sigh and slumped with her back against the railing of the maintenance walkway she'd landed on. 'This is going better than our last fight, that's for sure. The idiot's obviously more injured than he let on, it looks like his back is messed up. That explains why he's moving so slowly. I doubt he's gonna be able to use Beast Mimicry in this state… so much for fighting at full strength.'
Meanwhile, on the surface, Nathan shut his eyes and tried his best to tune out the noise of the crowd. He knew this trick all too well, considering how often she'd tried it. Even before the tournament, Melody's whole schtick when fighting him was to use her surroundings to try to catch him off guard, though thanks to his Quirk it was largely ineffective. This time, however, the crowd – which even when largely muted still made enough noise to make his head hurt – put the ball in her court. Then, his nose twitched and he whipped around just in time for her foot to connect with his cheek, throwing him to the ground. He was back on his feet just seconds later and managed to block the girl's right hook, answering with his own that would have connected if not for her Quirk. At the exact moment his fist phased through her she transformed back to her normal state and attempted to drive her knee into his stomach. Nathan took the blow in stride and responded by driving his other elbow down on Melody's shoulder.
"Come on, Mel. I know you can do better," Nathan taunted. Melody grimaced and backed away from her friend, who looked slightly more annoyed than injured from her attack. On the other hand, her shoulder began to ache almost immediately after his attack. She'd forgotten that despite his main advantage being speed, his durability was leagues above her own. He could take almost any hit she threw at him and use her proximity to get a counter off before she could activate her Wraith.
"Shut it, furball," she replied, wincing as a sharp pain in her head made her vision temporarily darken. Thankfully, if Nathan noticed he chose not to comment. The feline's eyes were narrowed as he began prowling at a distance just out of her reach and perfect for pouncing. 'Remember. Get in close. I can't use my Quirk much more or I'll be crippled in my next fight. If I can get him moving, maybe I can disrupt his back a bit more.' Then, as she'd expected, he launched himself towards her. An idea struck her and she transformed just as he would have reached her, causing him to go right through her and skid to a stop. Hearing a footstep very close behind him, Nathan whipped around. This turned out to be a mistake as his back caught fire at the suddenness of the action. He watched as Melody, unexpectedly, passed right through his body a second time.
"Shit!" He growled before turning once again, this time a bit slower, just in time to see Melody bearing down on him. Without any hesitation, the much smaller girl used her size to jump slightly and headbutt him in the chin. Nathan's teeth clacked together and he swore before grabbing a handful of the girl's hair and tossing her to the ground. Still seemingly unperturbed the redhead leaped at him once again and slammed her shoulder into his stomach, while her arms wrapped around his back and squeezed. Nathan couldn't help but cry out as his already injured back was further brutalized. As Melody had thrown her full body weight into the tackle, the blond couldn't keep his footing and both combatants fell to the dirt. Once they'd fallen, the girl was slow to let go which gave Nathan an opening to bring up his legs and forcefully kick her off of him. Even though he'd gotten to his feet first, his opponent was able to make the first move.
From a crouched position, she jumped at him again. This time, however, her target was higher. Melody slipped underneath his guard, wrapped one of her arms around his neck and reached around to lock her fingers together. Nathan's eyes widened as he realized what she was attempting and tried to free himself, though this was unsuccessful as his legs were knocked out from under him. The moment the two hit the ground, Nathan started to feel short of breath. 'Shit, a triangle-arm choke? When did she… this is bad,' he thought before trying to struggle against her. With his right arm basically unusable, he used his left to punch the girl several times in her side and ribcage. Though she yelped in pain, her grip only seemed to tighten even more. He feebly tried to grab her hair and pull but his strength was draining much faster than he'd have thought. After nearly a minute of resisting, he could feel his face beginning to turn blue and his eyes were struggling to stay open. In a final move of desperation, he dug his claws into her side, ripping through the fabric of her costume. Even this only seemed to make her squeeze harder.
"Give," he finally muttered, using the last of his breath to do so. The moment Melody let him go, she fell backward and sat on the ground, breathing just as heavily as he was. For a second through his blurry vision, there seemed to be a sort of black mist leaking from the redhead's mouth. However, when his breath managed to even out and the black edges of his peripherals returned to normal, it was gone. Then, a massive wave of exhaustion washed over him and he lost the ability to keep his head up. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was Ms. Whittaker walking over and declaring Melody the winner.
Purpose of a Hero
"I warned you." Nathan scowled, the last thing he wanted to hear after having lost was an 'I told you so' from the irate school nurse. Unfortunately, he was quite literally unable to defend himself. When he'd woken up in the infirmary he'd been fitted with an oxygen mask and forbidden to speak, lest he even further damage his trachea. Then, his costume had been torn away, leaving him lying on the cot face-down in his boxers with Mrs. Holl poking and prodding his back. "It seems like you only further aggravated the herniated disc. I'm almost tempted to leave it to heal normally. It would be a good lesson in learning to respect your limits. I swear, just as stubborn as your father."
"He's always been like that." To further add to his embarrassment, the very person who'd worsened his condition and the absolute last person he'd like to see him in such a compromised position had shown up, seemingly having blown off getting herself looked at to make sure he was okay. "If he isn't a regular in the infirmary I'd be genuinely shocked."
"You're no better, Ms. Halloway. Need I remind you that you've been to my office no less than a dozen times over the past three months?" Melody reddened slightly and turned to look at the curtains. Leena regarded her for a moment, then sighed. "I need to look over Mr. Larson for a few more minutes, so I'll need you to step out. There are still a few of your classmates I'm keeping here if you want to go and see them. And yes, Mr. Mondronen is among them."
"Fine," she said before getting up and walking over to pat her friend on his shoulder. "Next time, after you're all healed up, we'll have an actual fight."
"Why didn't… use new move?"
"Mr. Larson, I told you not to speak!" Ignoring the nurse, Nathan turned his head to look at Melody, who simply shrugged.
"You couldn't use Beast Mimicry, so it didn't seem all that fair. Besides, I was only planning to use it as a last resort. If I'd have used it against you and won, I'm not sure I'd be able to fight in my next match. Basically… you weren't worth the risk," she said tauntingly before turning on her heel disappearing through the pale white curtains. Once she was gone, Nathan rolled his eyes and yelped in pain as Mrs. Holl pressed particularly hard on his lower spine.
Purpose of a Hero
"Narruk? Can I come in?" Melody asked, knocking on the heavy wooden door though she got no answer. While most students were located in the main infirmary, those with particularly bad injuries or those that had to go through surgery were kept in private rooms along a side hallway. After a short chat with Andi, who wanted to talk more about Melody's win than her own loss, the redhead had tried to find Narruk on her own with no luck. In the end, she had to ask the nurse's assistant Sophia for directions. "Narruk, you there? I'm coming in."
Slightly worried by his lack of response, Melody turned the knob and pushed open the door, only to be greeted by a pitch-black room. As the fluorescent lighting of the hallway flooded in, it illuminated the very end of the bed. Thanks to its distance from the noise of the main infirmary, she was able to hear a slow, slightly frantic breathing coming from the dark. Then, a hoarse but firm voice. "Go away."
"Don't be an idiot. None of this was your fault," Melody replied as she switched on the lights. He looked even worse than she thought he would. His hair was disheveled, it looked as if he hadn't slept despite having only recently woken up from anesthesia, and there were several new, white scars marring his face. As she dragged a chair across the room, she could practically feel the fear and anger rolling off of him. The moment she sat down, Narruk turned away from her to face the wall. "We've been over this Narruk. It isn't your fault."
"I lost control and nearly hurt someone again. Who else's fault could it be?" He spat out. Melody subconsciously tucked away the 'again' part of his statement as she grabbed his shoulder and gently turned him back to face her.
"It's not your fault, it's not Clara's fault, it's no one's fault but Alpha. We got a bit too complacent leading up to the tournament, especially with the full moon being not too long ago. We should've kept up with our training. I had a dream about it actually," Melody said, her face falling slightly when she remembered what had happened after her talk with dream-Narruk. "Regardless, please don't beat yourself up over this. As bad as it sounds, this could actually help us in the long run. Now that you're more familiar with how it feels to lose almost complete control, you know what to look for. We've just gotta get your mental fortitude up."
"Has anyone ever told you that you're too optimistic?" Narruk asked dryly, which Melody ignored and pulled out her bottle of migraine pills. She downed two of them and wrinkled her nose at the taste before refocusing on him.
"After this tournament, you're gonna start playing chess with Oliver, whether either of you likes it not." Just like in her dream, Narruk didn't seem all that thrilled by the idea but that didn't matter. Melody's mind was made up. She would help him overcome Alpha. 'It's what mom would've done.'
Purpose of a Hero
"Anthony! If you let those garlic knots burn I will stuff you in the oven with them!" Carlyle shouted over his shoulder, receiving a mixture of amused and wary looks from the moderate line formed in front of his stand. The sizeable man ran his fingers through his wiry red hair as he wrote yet another order on his notepad. 'Perhaps I should have hired some more help. Who knew it would get so bad that I couldn't watch my darling Melly fight in the finals. Bah, nonsense. Anthony just needs to pick up the pace before I shove him out here to deal with these people!' He thought. Suddenly, there was a large cheer from the crowd and he glanced over at the large television screen set into the outside wall of the stadium. It seemed as if Melody had just pulled off her sneak attack, judging from the visible red mark on her opponent's face. 'She's not as fast or as strong as her classmates but she is tricky. Her Quirk calls for her to use the environment to her advantage, something her classmates largely ignore to fire off their strongest attacks at one another.'
"Oh-ho! Scarlette Phantom pulls an absolute roundhouse there but it seems like Leo is completely unaffected! Hehehe, this is awesome!" Carlyle chuckled at the impassioned cries of Oddball before turning his attention back to the crowd. As he wrote down his fiftieth order of the day, he detected a slight shift in the line. Glancing up, his eyes immediately locked onto the person who'd caused the change and saw a familiar woman with obsidian black hair walking straight towards his stand, completely ignoring the line. The woman was certainly getting a fair share of double-takes from the crowd and even Carlyle would have thought she was attractive if not for the thinly veiled fury in her eyes. She stopped about fifteen feet from the stand and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him.
"Anthony, watch the stand." The young man nearly dropped the tray he'd just removed from the oven and watched with wide eyes as Carlyle vaulted over the side of the counter and began walking away, leaving him to deal with the twenty or so people waiting in line.
"M-Mr. Halloway, wait!" As much as it pained him to do so, Carlyle ignored his young employee and followed the black-haired woman as she stomped away from the festival and into a more secluded part of the ground, still in sight of the stadium. 'Good luck, Melly.' He came to a stop, keeping quite a bit of distance between the two as the temperature began to rise.
"Lydia. It's been some time."
Purpose of a Hero
Sorry for the long wait, had a case of writer's block on this chapter. This damned quarantine is killing my sleep schedule and I've been spending literal days on various games (MW2 Remastered being the key offender. God, I love that game. Even ten years later I'm not fully over 'Loose Ends'. Well, anyway since I'm still unemployed and have a lot of free time I'll try and get off my ass and get these chapters out a bit quicker. Until next time, wash your hands and stay away from people.
Next time on the Purpose of a Hero:
Chapter 42: Bad Blood
Q&A, Featuring Andi Ena
To Andi: What's the weirdest thing you have heard while tuning the ears?
Andi: Once, I tuned into a police scanner and they were chasing a naked motorcycle thief.
To Andi: If a tree falls in the middle of the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Andi: The old philosophical question, huh? Sure, I guess. If not me, someone else has to have a Quirk to hear it.
To Andi: Who's your favorite hero?
Andi: Oddball? No, All Might! Wait, maybe Overgrown? Gah! Picking just one is hard!
To Andi: What's your favorite kind of music?
Andi: Some of that techno stuff is kind of cool. Pop's not bad, either.
To Andi: Do you get XM too?
Andi: Sure! (Don't tell anyone)
To Andi: What happens if you receive too strong of a signal? Do you get overloaded, burnt out, or what?
Andi: I get nauseous. Sometimes it can hurt my ears, too, if it's loud.
To Andi: Also, Bionicles?
Andi: Aww yeah!
To Andi: Can you retract your ear-tennae similar to that of a radio antenna?
Andi: Nah. Don't worry though, they're sturdier than they look.
To Andi: How do you deal with the background noise that comes with being a big city? Is your room a Faraday Cage to keep the noise out, or does it not bother you?
Andi: It doesn't bother me much - I'm pretty good at "tuning it all out."
To Andi: Would you want to start a cult revolving around yourself?
Andi: What kind of fraked up question is that?
To Andi: Are there any hobbies or skills you would like to pick up in your 4 years besides heroics?
Andi: Hmm... Learning another language could be useful.
To Andi: Have you ever been kicked in the groin?
Andi: Not kicked, but I've rammed it into a chair. It's not like TV - it still hurts if you're a girl!
To Andi: What would you do for a Klondike bar?
Andi: I'd pull a practical joke on Clara.
To Andi: What is your ideal type?
Andi: Tough one. I'd say someone fun and interesting.
To Andi: Finish the lyric. "wake me up _"
Andi: Scotty.
To Andi: Who is best boy?
Andi: Depends. Which one of you dudes will bribe me the most? XD
To Andi: Realistically, can you keep a small child alive for a week, without direct interference?
Andi: ...I guess? I could tune in to a baby monitor or something.
To Andi: What was the last song that got stuck in your head?
Andi: Well, the early 21st century had this really bad song known as "Friday..."
To Andi: It's karaoke night. What are you singing?
Andi: The Spider-man theme song.
To Andi: Who's your OTP?
Andi: I think Melody and Nathan are really into each other. I should expedite that.
To Andi: Who going to drink the bottles of ipecac on the table and go longest without vomiting?
Andi: Maybe Lyon? He might be odd enough to pull that off.
To Andi: In a parallel world if you where a villain what would your villain name be?
Andi: NSA.
To Andi: Have you had your first kiss yet?
Andi: Nope!